Thursday, May 31, 2007

LotD

I just tested my brain here and I'm apparently in possession of a brain that's average, which doesn't really help the ego or sense of superiority much, but okay. The attention test got me but I did pretty decent on the other two tests. However, in the interests of preserving my fragile sense of self, I'm not posting my scores here.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Sniff

Florida Girl has gone home after 5 days of wonderful visit, and she has left me with a fridge full of chocolate. It's a little scary just how much chocolate there is in my fridge. I mean, I knew she loved chocolate, but to her, it's as necessary to life as water and air. All of my mother!approved foods seemed to be hiding in the back of the fridge as part of the non-chocolate protection program. I'll rescue them in the morning.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

FanLib

Apparently fanlib.com is the latest controversy brewing in fandom. I don't plan at all to participate because I feel a wee bit uneasy over the fact money is being made on fanfiction and that's just... infringement. But the site creator answered questions over here, for those of you who may want more information. Note how many times he uses the term 'postive agent of change' or some variation thereof. Needless to say, the tone and content of his interview didn't sway me, a ficcer of more than a decade, and I doubt it'll sway much of the old guard either, especially those of us who remember the C&D letters of the 1990s or who don't see fanfiction as a commercial transaction (feedback wars aside) or particularly in need of validation from higher ups (i.e., the actual producers of media content). Thanks, but no thanks.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Back!

I have returned, though I think as always, I need a vacation from my vacation. For those of you not in the know, I went to Philadelphia for a friend's wedding this past weekend. It was a blast and I had a great time reconnecting with all my friends from college. It was almost as if no time had passed though, it was a bit freaky for one friend to greet me, "Hey, I haven't seen you in a decade." (I corrected him -- nine years, not a decade). The wedding was great, lots of fun, and at some point, I'll have pictures of the meal, as it was very fancy and elaborate and I couldn't resist taking pictures. I'm a little nutty that way. But among friends, that's okay.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Offline

I know I owe some of you RL people phone calls and emails, but believe you me, the last five days have been really crazy. I'm taking some time away from the internets, but I will see you on the other side of the weekend.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Monday, May 14, 2007

Electric blurr

So I got my electric bill today and it was for a (wait for it) a whopping $6.70. I'd gotten a notice a couple weeks back that said my rates were dropping by 10 percent, but this wasn't a 10 percent drop; this was an 80 percent drop. Also, $6.70 implied I'd barely used any electricity at all for the last month, which I knew was incorrect. My refrigerator must cost at least $6.70, not to mention the dishwasher, the microwave, the washer and dryer (which sorta works), my various fans, the television, the computer... It turns out I'm the beneficiary of a $25 credit for reasons unbeknownst to me, so my joy at managing to conserve electricity to the point of ridiculousness was short lived.

Still, I'm going to try to get through the month of May without turning on the AC. I'm really tempted to turn it on tonight, but I'm going to try the ceiling fan again. I current have my small fan going in the office and two of my windows are open and I'm quite comfortable, but if it weren't for the fan and the windows, there would be absolutely no moving air in my apartment.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

LotD

Here's a list of the what to eat and what not to eat at major restaurant chains. It's a little scary when you look at the calorie counts on some popular items and realize that that one item takes up half of your calorie allocation for the day (average person needs about 2200 calories a day) or in the case of the Colossal Burger at Ruby Tuesday's -- you eat one of those and you can maybe have a piece of celery and a cup of yogurt for the rest of the day. Scary, scary.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Surfacing

So I've been in and out of the blogosphere for the last few weeks and so I thought I owed just a tiny bit of an explanation. I was interviewing for a job and it was a pretty intense process and so a lot of my online time was spent preparing and researching for the interview and then taking an online test (3 hours!).

Once I accepted their offer, I decided to lie low during my background check. This blog is full of all sorts of things that people may or may not find offensive, so I decided to keep my fingers mostly silent or talk about things like salsa, which I'm pretty sure offends no one. I'm happy to report that I've gotten smarter since I first started blogging, but I just wanted to make sure I said nothing controversial here while people were actively looking into me.

Anyway, all is well, and I passed all of the interviews (10 in total), tests (2, including a drug test), and the background check. I gave my notice to my current company yesterday and I will be starting a new job next month. I'm really excited about the opportunity. Nervous too, of course, but excited, because I think I'll really have the chance to contribute to the new company, but also expand my own abilities.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Shopping

I went dress shopping, or more accurately, I went on a scavanger hunt for the perfect dress on Saturday. It took me six hours, and I went to every single store in my area (including three Ann Taylors, two Ann Taylor Lofts), including the one mall I hate with a passion, and then at my wit's end, I went to a mall futher away before I found the perfect dress.

Here's what I was looking for in a dress (and keep in mind that a nice dress starts around $69 these days and I was looking for a nice dress):

A lining was absolutely necessary

A high neckline

Skirt needed to at least come within an inch of the knees, if not longer

The material couldn't look old or faded; an unbelievable number of dresses looked liked they'd already been through the washer/dryer 80 times before being put out for sale

Should be appropriate for work, either alone or combined with a sweater or jacket

Not terribly trendy; if I'm going to buy a dress that costs $69 or more, I'd want to wear it more than one season. I'm nutty that way.

And note that even though I said a nice dress costs $69 or more, I didn't want to spend that much. I'm cheap that way.

I was indiscriminate about color, though I wasn't too keen on yellow, which seems to be the color of the season, or white, since I already have a white eyelet sundress for the season (I'm also not sure on wearing white to a wedding, which is why I wanted a new dress). I also wanted a dress that would just look nice and elegant and stylish in a classic way. I wanted nothing to do with the plunging V-necklines I saw a lot of or the slinky body-hugging LBDs that were curiously lacking in a lining.

Florida Girl said my expectations for a dress were too high and that sometimes you do have to suck it up and buy a $150 dress. But I stuck to my guns, and the end result was a dress that fit every one of my criteria. Needless to say, by the time I got home Saturday evening, I was dead tired, and I'll be happy to take a nice long break from the shopping malls, but I'm really happy with the dress and glad I did go through all of that because I have no buyer's remorse. All of this to say: define expectations and then hold out for what you want because it's well worth it if you don't have to settle.

Monday, May 07, 2007

Salsa, salsa

Since the last post was about salsa, I thought I'd post this recipe for a salsa I tried this weekend -- Avocado and Corn Salsa. It's pretty simple to make, very colorful, and just pure yum. It made a great complement to the bean & corn filling for my burritos (in a wheat tortilla). Plus, it's just another one of those great recipes that tastes wonderful but requires very little effort to please.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Two out of three tasters...

Here's an interesting article on jarred salsas. I really like Pace picante sauce, and Tostitos has a fairly decent one. I do like some of the gourmet salsas -- especially anything made with black beans and corn -- but they tend to be pricey and found only in boutique type stores which is no fun when you're a discount shopper likes yours truly. Anyway, for those of you who love salsa, it's a fun article.

Incidentally, making salsa is super easy. Take a tomato, take an onion, take a pinch of chilis, a handful of cilantro, and cut it all up, and mix it in with some lime juice. You can blend it to your degree of chunkiness. If you leave it as is, it makes a refreshing pico de gallo for a hot summer day.